![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV1gvTYlmjJS5WvSLwe1NcSw7_ZX_lnX1EQpnTskaL7yxTWbKKylMEw6SlGNknRW1SEgYuA2spqyrKc8aYJzN-Ij4_5n71sZe_ood3xGhHTlqh736DSGDt0BydzWKfJiPCsOsM0OaIzck2GiqgnaIM42Z39_cT6NAhBUm-QIUNwgBWDhd3PJJ5Idle6pNF/s16000/new-1.jpeg) |
Brown-haired Reb Brown artwork for WHITE GHOST Year: 1988 Rating: *** |
Actor/Producer Wayne
Crawford plays a grouchy commando common enough to have a line that
finishes with "Cap in
your ass!" And with WHITE GHOST there's a lesson on how to use William Katt's BIG WEDNESDAY co-star, Reb Brown (who had resembled a skinny and large version of each other), the right and wrong way — starting with what not to do...
The mission to "rescue" and/or
"recover" Katt's titular rogue from the Vietnam jungle, where he's
existed, obscured behind a phantom legacy since the
unpopular war's closure almost twenty years earlier, is headed by Reb Brown, portraying
a very serious, seemingly passive major, addressing a round table of grimacing politicians
wanting nothing to do with the near-historic error of Vietnam...
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJYX-NueufAjzxMWLfMJ4_wvFqEssN68ROPYMcEZnoIxW9Vw2fxwT8__T3dt3MOlz3ECfDOJtXtcPn_UTFi0fHBbvPadVA7MbRZB4Su8oAwQY-Vp_j7h8JPgp5xInP9VI2zFv3gP6YNQ-YJbXJTB6eW24hZeodvY6hBvs0uQ0CR-_Q3N0dUMR01TfeXopj/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202023-07-09%20at%2010.15.03%20PM.jpeg) |
Wayne Crawford in WHITE GHOST |
From the conference room to his office, Brown's Maj.
Cross delivers lines in a listless CAPTAIN AMERICA delivery. But have
patience: there is a reason to smile when, upon hearing
the news that Wayne Crawford's group of bully commandoes had screwed up the mission, Brown asks for a
plane — by the film's gun-blasting finale, he makes like an awesome
STRIKE COMMANDO freed from a CAGE with the kind of screaming UNCOMMON VALOR only he
would wield. And in-between the talky intro and the action-packed
finale, there's a lot going on in WHITE GHOST, and, at the same time,
not much at all.
Those mercenaries... led by Crawford, whose swarthy
countenance makes a more believable villain than he was an affable hero
in JAKE SPEED... basically trudge around what seems like a giant circle
of tree-brush, seeming to get absolutely nowhere. The men include a
young moral compass played by ENDLESS LOVE actor Martin Hewitt, who eventually winds up befriending the title
character after realizing who the good and bad guys are...
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2FagWbnLgOI5PXpomij1GQWLHn9k7Ng9TW_3tR1tOwU05Ll_a0UpIsyugnhEJXflA86ZZezdwBJ15KoYhUkPnbr1-qzUtHHq9ecV9MhunOQo-LXESoDtbBZ2zfvnG-7MLs_EZo8tCDF9ep-g11PDWX5gkIwyAup9Fz_Ek6glUCIWdBMvVbUEmVgRTYyI7/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202023-07-10%20at%2012.39.10%20AM.png) |
William Katt and Rosalind Chao in WHITE GHOST |
Katt's title yet extremely buried and subtle Steve
Shepard teaches the kid a thing or two about preparing guns and bombs
for an upcoming attack while providing his own backstory, which includes
the usual "we burned villages with innocent women and children," a
tragic real life element that's extremely overused in Vietnam flicks...
Before this is an unintentionally hilarious moment showing the
mercenaries first scene "in-country" – without having witnessed their
arrival, there they are, trudging along, back in 'Nam as if in a nature
center during summer vacation, and one guy says: "It smells the same,"
as another shouts back, "Maybe you're the one who smells!" This is
paraphrased, but much of their dialogue's practically as awkward and banal...
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJXBRU7nZNmZoNtWmxqZQSvbbcit-mFFU-iIflj5t4xNp28QBz8BuQuF9mwhNb_BxGBa6QAXezwG1EblbNQFT4ypfNwiw2fAcDYXeFQRt2D-vKEBFs0X67ZYgIWBao2L9ghXgshLMu9KTIGgdi-lOZgzxmYI56c2cyIp9-CnBq2rKji4jjVz1C698JeMGF/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202023-07-10%20at%2012.37.56%20AM.png) |
Red Brown in WHITE GHOST |
As is the casting of the curly blond haired GREATEST
AMERICAN HERO as the WHITE GHOST instead of a brawny, more befitting Chuck Norris type or hell, even Reb Brown
would have fit much better in the brazen lead — which would have made it
way more accessible to cult movie fans with a bloodlust for steely
heroes wielding tons of ultra-violence — which does eventually occur,
especially in the Extended-Version Blu Ray...
Although, being a genuinely capable actor, the CARRIE
prom king tries his very best, and is no stranger to playing Vietnam vets — Katt leaves and returns from the war in BIG WEDNESDAY (and HOUSE) — but as this legendary "human wraith," a
passive-till-pushed survivalist (with girlfriend Rosalind Chao) who one of the mercenaries describes as "Not human," he's
out of his element, particularly with the curly, vanilla-colored hair (inches short of
a mullet) that bounces to each step as if shampooed daily...
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgrzg5SX523TOVBzUUFYfOHwNUEVxNISfyez9H4RJNBmOcmyHaDW86vxSsgs-1kkvIlikeYapN6EFF5jEYeEevSTV1_Rnx_ekOIUNIMi_I6PwuaX9bBc_WgMN0_bLRIwExCv_LYbSnGYs1LK8SGmMTiJCxSqzHHBj7pWqMQv792WkMqRIKrbw18J6f1JXO/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202023-07-10%20at%2012.36.40%20AM.png) |
Red Brown in WHITE GHOST |
But once all
the characters reach the high-octane pinnacle, WHITE GHOST, with little
time left, goes wonderfully overboard, and Katt won't go down without a
teeth-grinding fight, especially since Wayne Crawford's Captain Walker
strives to take him back dead, not alive (still bitter about being
"ratted-out" for burning that village)...
And, though dime-a-dozen in the
"Missing in Action" style sub-genre, this obscure curio moves decently enough so what
fails as a war-related vehicle winds up a semi-decent action flick.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwWKYaNOvsmAmTb9vezGz4pgwxD_51KZ3x4e8oWm2e_fN3BULdWMDQk_-7JE8MTYk_BLYlMG1Zy5upTJB-qNltl8IQmtHtVSEEtfdmZ1s91dp52JQv1j49lJ61Vr-1CxgpX2pbP4A6aVF7YybQnuQW-Z6c-yoNrSV70JLE98qXnykl-1nT8ZmUv_QZMWjf/s16000/1.jpeg) |
William Katt in WHITE GHOST
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![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEDVbkHxFfVI9czsOCb_gQousO0OOycfajY1vvLMfvETNXySWT-zbEgteIOAnScp0_Q_HTMsQ2OTHPPCDhVaZF04GwaPdrQPk89mhROmLP1P1xCZ5qjHAYsnnoi9JK8idMBtvnTDdUJkgaSDCiPDo2yggz_430o8jQl1sJuYHmR-u-IJgcpqlDYQ5gU72a/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202023-07-09%20at%2010.11.49%20PM.png) |
Red Brown in WHITE GHOST
|
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfQz7wNG09dd_3HfhyiLnd5Qln4Kj9qfPiXoB7XZ5egkRIpZ-KgMCwpobd1Nq2fSRwez9Z-XKT4j8cYqkdYGCoyLVob236h3smo7USLKQxbu8pmThUEV39okNLuDQxBPnniaLsQshQzMJ9fDGDCFhc8r1zjFG_GGdGgCHS07o9vT88vSCq4Jfp-dS11G6k/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202023-07-09%20at%2010.12.13%20PM.png) |
Wayne Crawford and Karl Johnson in WHITE GHOST |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA6am7l6jMK0-jOAoTCZMt7oownFa7-3iSg08UWAivtFlpkFaWLFFHB8GCCwWVC6QDNWz5TMVxSzzm_bQX3ZABxQ58P9_B2SR0Q8w1_P9iZXH3o7EBAl_yW9PWXQyXtfhBpEjSVlPuUhXJFNjGfrXqjn0uCQHBR1hN7j6K2CMWYhX2egSGiWvYuwT7YEF_/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202023-07-09%20at%2010.12.36%20PM.png) |
Red Brown in WHITE GHOST |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAkKnUG8V_mOKAj4oB1PrVF_u8cvIO5fZxOUjHvLaGm3jXl3GIO2GSUfjfJcBVRvwOLbTDCUnt-MwQy3zmKEaccO7gcOedC_Tr9cApykj46gFvvLBUlQatBYVR1kanXhu7x8HiLuWerr-byanRg7J2BY70hqbtFbMiBJ9DfOOAusba-9R0rb-5x7Z3TXzZ/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202023-07-09%20at%2010.14.18%20PM.png) |
Rosalind Chao in WHITE GHOST |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPciLdWNRgEJcFxd2DnY1sVwx5_XyBrEZkbF4KXdytQmvx8_Qc3UwNIO5vIE8A02KZ1S4ikc0CYBQ05h-6UmXrQZXA1eMrc_o8DX69oN6Ej6gBwGg5Jec8qnIDpbA5i3Gsgr4OcxbciWqwVZ_cSRhs4OdzqZZps1t5VzlEq_NKk3ejkuNbt5t51TgwJWb4/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202023-07-09%20at%2010.14.42%20PM.jpeg) |
Wayne Crawford in WHITE GHOST |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM_fBEAVxUr_nbMc0H4fc638ohJP1-WwERDjqctCK503tw725SbYJlM_Uxe1yV4izXK5QlbQ_MvdYWKBKUBTNqGFJskXbsgxpbI6iqMx92z3SRq6hUn7jwYyuGT30kz5252qg6zg4HKAtzzyj-JTY9-miEsuJI9NiosuzrB8uLTUIbJZPL0juL7eZluxf7/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202023-07-09%20at%2010.14.54%20PM.jpeg) |
Wayne Crawford and Karl Johnson in WHITE GHOST |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigq9a8AKXLNxpUVxkkUFrgYJ81VIJA_GhPQuw2zQj3ok9v3TloL2vPVphTWEQYxWgTnGKCoAxdpT5nAO4qVJBvaP8rU7Ut5gIz_BzD7RZZ5_g1eEGflI66MAyAOfq_WmcaajfwL63eAYPBddxy1w6v8LO4Sr9yTwD5hLiRJVmR0QxYWNBRzAxtqvguqB7b/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202023-07-09%20at%2010.14.06%20PM.png) |
Reb Brown in WHITE GHOST |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjatl93hU-wEVPCxjT-GQCjOUG4Ym76d8p7AFyx4mCpAdHlcsXfBmQ2j9gPBt1PExfl72u2jrVRpYcU0ZniB8vetz08a8j5g8zOrRM4Bu_jJC3DE6TN4_Z5E9a8A3f4qtfC7lFJGQj8pZDw/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-02-03+at+5.56.03+PM.jpeg) |
Red Brown says farewell to the Vietnam-departing William Katt in BIG WEDNESDAY |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOrHaMPtBi8wxdRv4jl1Q7pMhMQ4feINtG0L7DmC5P_TkH5g5reyBkFJ7gnTiAek3bvU_jdtXH1YEeImcwUR_Kxgobeg4TjrPkDC7l8t0hsGF0USg5Xc4HbI_jBpe5LbcsTza8ym0W2jUNHE65XT4yUMigD_a3K9u37fGFhyPOrvD1j6KGhyh-3-6dgyyN/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202023-07-09%20at%2010.40.41%20PM.jpeg) |
Brown-haired Reb Brown rendering for WHITE GHOST poster
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